Sextus, son of Tarquinius Superbus, prepares to attack Rome, but Horatius is standing at the bridge known as the Pons Sublicius.

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The ancient Romans told how in 507 , just months after they had driven out the Etruscans as rulers and formed the republic, the former king Tarquinius Superbus and his son Sextus (pictured here), aided by the Etruscan chieftain Lars Porsenna, sought to regain Rome. They marched out and were stopped at the Pons Sublicius, the bridge entrance to Rome, by Horatius and two companions while the Romans cut down the bridge. This illustration is from an 1864 copy of Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome.

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